Athens News Agency: News in English, 10-03-28

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President of the Republic Karolos Papoulias on Sunday attended events
commemorating the historic attempt by Greeks to break out of the
besieged town of Messolonghi in 1826, dubbed the 'Exodus of the Free
Besieged from Messolonghi', during Greece's war of independence against
Turkish rule. The sortie ended in a bloody massacre but marked a
turning point in Greece's fortunes, with Turkish barbarity inspiring
Europeans to aid the war of independence that Greeks began in 1821.

In a speech at an official dinner held in his honour, President
Papoulias underlined that solidarity should today be "the foundation
stone for the Europe we are trying to build". According to Papoulias,
the European vision was recent history's most significant investment in
peace, cooperation and growth, its most ambitious and unprecedented
political attempt at solidarity and unification.

According to Greece's president, the people of Europe were calling on
their political leaders to overcome the institutional impasse and
create a European Union with social cohesion and solidarity, with
convergence combined with respect for differences, marked by
environmental sensitivity, sustainable growth, protection of workers
and social justice.